Cost estimation and performance evaluation of 3D printed membranes for vanadium redox flow batteries

The membrane is a central component in the commercialization of vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB), with Nafion being the preferred material for those membranes. Nafion suffers however from high vanadium crossover and high cost, thus limiting its wider commercial application in VRFB. To address this, studies have focused on sulfonated polyether ether ketone (SPEEK) as an alternative material. This work presents an economic study on the production costs of 3D printed SPEEK (3D-SPEEK) membranes for VRFB, with multiple production scenarios evaluated. This analysis relies on the performances of 3D-SPEEK membranes prepared in our laboratory, which have shown higher Coulombic efficiency and lower vanadium ions diffusion than Nafion membranes. Results from the economic analysis revealed that the cost of the 3D-SPEEK membrane varies from 567.77 to 79.35 /m(2) depending on the production scheme and scale used. Production costs lower than commercial Nafion membranes are achieved when a large production scheme is used. Further analysis shows that 3D-SPEEK membranes might even be cheaper than conventional SPEEK membranes if their printing time is reduced.